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Nuclear Football (5:1)

Podcast (pirkeiavos): Download (Duration: 23:25 — 10.7MB)

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How important are we? Do we even matter? What difference does it make if I live of die? What difference can one person make in the grand scope of existence? These are tough existential questions that thinking people grapple with. In this thought provoking podcast, we follow the Mishnah in exploring some these advanced questions.

This Ethics Podcast was originally released on the Ethics Podcast on Mar 2, 2021

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DONATE: Please consider supporting the podcasts by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

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#99: First Order of Mishnah (Planting)

Podcast (torah101): Download (Duration: 45:59 — 21.1MB)

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The Mishnah is a massive, sprawling, and utterly comprehensive canon of Torah law. Spanning 60+ books over 6 Orders, the Mishnah includes all the laws of the Torah. To study it all would take a very long time. To know it all, takes a lifetime. In this podcast, we try to gain an appreciation for the general concepts of Mishnah, beginning in the Order of Planting (Agriculture).

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DONATE: Please consider supporting the podcasts by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

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Parshas Mattos & Masei (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 1:00:55 — 27.9MB)

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This year, the Book of Numbers ends with a double parsha – Mattos and Masei. We learn about the laws of vows and oaths; the miraculous war with Midian; the unusual request of the tribes of Gad and Reuben; the Torah delineates the 42 different places that the Nation encamped for their 40 year sojourn; and we gain closure to the saga of the daughters of Tzelaphchad.

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DONATE to TORCH: Please consider supporting the podcasts by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

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Life, Afterlife, and Judgment (4:29)

Podcast (pirkeiavos): Download (Duration: 51:14 — 23.5MB)

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What happens after we die? That is a question that fascinates and terrifies us. The future is unknown. It is a mystery, shrouded in uncertainty and dread. Naturally, the human tendency is to try to avoid thinking about those questions too much. In this Mishnah, the subject is ripped open and we learn some very valuable and penetrating insights that can forever shape our live.

This Ethics Podcast was originally released on the Ethics Podcast on Jan 17, 2021

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DONATE: Please consider supporting the podcasts by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

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Pinchas – Sunday and Moonday

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 56:34 — 25.9MB)

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Great leaders are often irreplaceable. The greatest leader of them all is certainly irreplaceable. But even Moshe must have a successor. In our Parsha, Moshe asks God designate a successor for him after he passes. Who can possibly fill such large shoes? Who can possibly take upon themselves the mantle of leadership of God’s Nation? Who can possibly steward the People, lead them across the Jordan, and fulfill what Moshe was unable to fulfill? There was a bit of a dispute regarding who should be chosen: Moshe wanted his sons to succeed him. God said, otherwise: Joshua, your trusty student and confidante will lead the Nation after your passing. What was the dispute between Moshe and God all about? How can it be that Moshe and God had different ideas regarding who should succeed Moshe? In this fascinating Parsha podcast, we propose a novel answer, an answer replete with dramatic ramifications for our own life and decisions.

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DONATE: Please consider supporting the podcasts by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

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Envy, Lust, and Honor (4:28)

Podcast (pirkeiavos): Download (Duration: 52:18 — 23.9MB)

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This Mishnah is perhaps the most famous one in the entire Book of Pirkei Avos. We are told that there are three characteristics that remove a person from the world: Envy, Lust, and Honor. What is not specified is which world is being referenced, or why, exactly, these characteristics are so destructive. In this transformational Ethics podcast, we probe many central questions of Jewish faith and eschatology.

This Ethics Podcast was originally released on the Ethics Podcast on Nov 2, 2020

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DONATE: Please consider supporting the podcasts by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

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Pinchas – Sons of Anarchist (5783)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 51:43 — 23.7MB)

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Korach’s rebellion claimed many victims: Some of the perpetrators were swallowed up in a miraculous sinkhole; some were consumed by a divine fire; and some were killed in a plague. In our Parsha, we discover that the sons of Korach did not die. Although they were participants in the rebellion initially, at the very last moment, they repented and were spared. In this Parsha Podcast we explore the fascinating story of the sons of Korach and discover a theme that appears in several other instances in our Parsha. At the risk of being overly presumptuous, I am confident that this podcast will prove to be both intriguing and deeply beneficial.

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DONATE: Please consider supporting the podcasts by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

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Assault on Dina: A Deep Exploration of a Third Rail Topic

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:50:17 — 50.5MB)

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Some subjects are way too dicey address publicly – electrified third rail subjects which zap anyone who approaches it. But Blake Cohen is not afraid of third rails. In fact, he recently launched a podcast that is dedicated exclusively to the untouchable “Third Rails” of Judaism. Fittingly, his show was called “Third Rail Judaism”, where he explores and ponders some of the forbidden subjects that others are too scared to tackle. I was honored when Blake asked me to be interviewed for the first episode, an exploration of the kidnapping and assault of Dina, daughter of Jacob.

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DONATE: Please consider supporting the podcasts by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

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Aged Wisdom (4:26-7)

Podcast (pirkeiavos): Download (Duration: 23:10 — 10.6MB)

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How do children learn? How does intelligence and wisdom develop? How do people undergo intellectual and spiritual maturation? In this very powerful set of Mishnayos, we learn why young people why young people are not always ready for prime time, and how ruminating over wisdom transforms a person.

This Ethics Podcast was originally released on the Ethics Podcast on Oct 26, 2020

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DONATE: Please consider supporting the podcasts by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

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Parshas Pinchas (Rebroadcast)

Podcast (parsha): Download (Duration: 51:44 — 23.7MB)

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Pinchas was a man of action, a zealot who avenged God’s vengeance and was handsomely rewarded for it. In this parsha we read about his reward, Moses’ succession plan, the methods through which the Land will be divided, and another census is done.

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DONATE to TORCH: Please consider supporting the podcasts by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

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Etched in Stone (4:25)

Podcast (pirkeiavos): Download (Duration: 48:14 — 22.1MB)

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Elisha Ben Avuyah was one of the greatest Sages with the potential to being a historic legend of Jewish history on par with Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues. But he went awry. He became a heretic and a sinner and abandoned Torah. Why did he go awry? That question is hotly debated among the Sages. They scoured his life and found all kinds of episodes that caused him to go bad. What is the story of this renegade Sage? Why was his teaching included in Pirkei Avos?

This Ethics Podcast was originally released on the Ethics Podcast on Aug 31, 2020

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DONATE: Please consider supporting the podcasts by making a donation to help fund our Jewish outreach and educational efforts at https://www.torchweb.org/support.php. Thank you!

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Email me with questions, comments, and feedback: rabbiwolbe@gmail.com

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